Forwards, Backwards, and Inbetween
by Gamine Madcap
Summary: A oneshot series about the unseen or unspoken moments scattered throughout Doctor Who. Chapter 5: Shops. Suggestions welcome! Rating is a precaution for future chapters.
1. Six Words

A/N: It has occurred to me that there are many great, unspoken moments in Doctor Who. Either of things that we don't see onscreen, or those wonderful shots when you can tell there is so much going on inside a character's head at one particular point. So I've started some little one-shots to try and break myself out of my current writer's slump. Hope you enjoy, and suggestions are welcome!

It had started with only six little words. Six simple, unimportant words that formed an average, every day sentence; so unimportant that even when the Prime Minister was demanding to know what they had been, he couldn't remember. Not even after just a few seconds, because it had been nothing, really. It wouldn't be until much later, after Harriet Jones had stepped down and Harold Saxon had taken her place, that Alex would remember those six little words and recognize his role in what had happened. Would see how the Doctor had used him to bring down the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Because all it had taken was a whisper. And that's how this new Doctor worked, apparently. He was at his most deadly, his most fierce, when he whispered. The bug planted in Alex's ear had been enough, just the right idea at the right moment, because after the Tylers and the Doctor and their friend had walked off, and he was left with a near-hysterical Prime Minister, Alex had started to see it. The bags under her eyes, and the added weight on her shoulders where it hadn't been there before. She does look tired, he'd thought, and rightfully so. After all, they'd all been through a serious trauma today, and Harriet Jones was no spring chicken.

And as they were arriving back to Downing Street, it was he who suggested that she take a few minutes to gather herself before speaking publicly to anyone about the Sycorax invasion. He who casually mentioned to a member of staff that the Prime Minister had been through a great deal, and could probably use a good cup of tea to help her relax. And he was the one who went ahead and called in her personal physician, just to be on the safe side, as Harriet Jones did look as though she were ready to collapse any moment.

So one whisper became two, and three, and before the evening was out the rumors had begun publicly, that the Prime Minister was no longer physically fit for office. The damage had been done, just as this strange man known as the Doctor had intended. And it was only later, so much later, when the President of the United States was killed and Harold Saxon revealed himself to be quite insane that Alex would remember those six little words, and recognize his role in the domino effect that had led the world to the brink of destruction.

_"Don't you think she looks tired?"_


	2. Mr Smith

A/N: I suppose I should have warned everyone in the first chapter, but this series isn't going to run chronologically. Eventually, when it's done, I may go back and rearrange stuff, but for now, I'm writing it as it comes to me. I can't remember if Martha calls the Doctor 'Mr. Smith' again after 'The Family of Blood' or not, but I don't think she does. If you don't like it, then go blow up a chicken with your timey-wimey device.

Oh, and yeah…they're not mine. Got it? One, I'm an American, so somehow, it would just be wrong for me to own Doctor Who. And if I did, Martha would have gotten over this stupid teenage infatuation thing a heck of a lot faster.

* * *

_"Welcome aboard, Miss Jones."_

_"It's my pleasure, Mr. Smith."_

_"Ms. Jones, will you accompany me to the theatre?"_

_"Mr. Smith, I will!"_

It was strange, really. Of all of the horrible things that she'd had to endure, living in 1913—the racism, the humiliation of being a maid, and being treated like a piece of furniture instead of a person…it was strange that out of all of this, that saying his name would be so hard.

She understood why the TARDIS had arranged it the way she had. John Smith was a common alias of the Doctor's, so why shouldn't it be his name as a human? But it stung worse than anything, because it was almost a mockery of their game. Smith and Jones. It was a staple of their relationship, from the very beginning. Even long after she knew his name wasn't _really_ Mr. Smith, she still called him that in sport, especially when he would start with the 'Ms. Jones'. It was simple, casual fun for both of them, something unique and special that Martha somehow knew was _their's_. She couldn't have said how she knew it, but somehow she knew that whatever his relationship with Rose had been, that this hadn't been something that they had done.

That was why it hurt so much to walk into his room every day, look at the man who had the Doctor's face but not his mind, and call him Mr. Smith. Why it stung a little more that the woman he was falling in love with was named Joan, when Martha knew that it should still be Smith and Jones. Phonetics could have a funny effect on people.

The worse thing was that standing there, in front of the TARDIS, watching her Doctor walk up the hill in the rain and seeing the pain that was still etched on his face…the worst part was knowing that after this, she could never really call him Mr. Smith in jest again. Because now it would always pull up dark memories, for both of them. Never again could they have the light, funny comedy of Smith and Jones. And Martha regretted that more than anything.


	3. Behave

A/N: Okay, so a few lovely reviews have perked me back up, and since my muses are in the mood of bombarding me, we'll see what we get.

This one is based off of one of my favorite moments in "Runaway Bride"—the freeway chase, specifically, the Doctor scolding the TARDIS.

Enjoy!

* * *

It seemed wrong to her, on many different levels. Not only was she not used to flying in an atmosphere, but the entire situation was _wrong_. Why should she be working so hard to save this creature who had violated her being? The TARDIS usually had control over who and what passed through her doors, but this time something…rather, some_one_, had simply popped in as though they belonged there. Which Donna Noble didn't.

To be honest, the TARDIS was simply pissed. It didn't happen often, but she was reeling from having her Rose ripped away, and her Other was in such torment that her telepathic circuits were on fire. And then this screeching woman appears, out of nowhere, as if she had always been there.

Though she doesn't want to admit it, one reason that she is so upset is the feeling that the woman _did_ belong, that there was something in her that was so old and so rare that it was the same as part of the TARDIS herself. So a part of her did feel obligated to go after her. And she hated that part. She wanted to plant herself on a rock and mourn with her Other, mourn their loss so that they can pick up the pieces and start again, as they have so many times before.

But she can also tell that her Other needs this. That he needs to be needed, to save and to solve the mystery. It pushes away the pain, and right now that is not a pain he can deal with. He makes that clear when he pulls out the mallet and orders her to behave.

No matter how much she doesn't want to do this, no matter how much she wants to forget this woman and fly away…she doesn't have much choice. She is at the mercy of her Other, her Time Lord, and right now, he has to be her concern. If he needs to save this woman, this human who intruded upon her inner being and was abusing the man trying to help her…then so be it. She was the last TARDIS in all of the universe, and she would do as her Time Lord commanded.

No matter how much it hurt.

* * *

A/N: I'm sure that I'm playing on a few people's ideas here…I've always loved pieces from the TARDIS's perspective, and I know that I've read one story that refers to the Doctor as her 'Other' and I simply had to use it. I don't remember who the author is…I'm so sorry—if I did I would certainly give the credit where credit is due. Just know that it's not mine. And don't forget to review—they feed the muses and brighten my sad, homework filled days. 


	4. The Lost Year Never Was

A/N: So, it occurred to me while watching LotTL that we never do hear anything about what happens to Leo during the Year That Never Was. The last we hear of him is the Doctor mentioning that he hasn't been captured with the rest of Martha's family. And since we never see him on the Valiant…just what did happen to Leo Jones?

Disclaimer: Of course they're not mine. I just play with them and ship them back off to England when I'm done.

Oddly enough, there's nothing in Martha's initial warning that gives Leo that much pause. He figures that it must be some sort of joke, or maybe even some huge family blowup that Martha's trying to protect him from. When Harold Saxon himself comes on the line, it makes him stop, and realize that there's something to this after all. After he hears the Doctor's voice and the line goes dead, Leo realizes that somehow or another, his sister and her friend have gotten them all in serious trouble. It's not until later that he realizes what really did it in for him—that it was hearing the sheer panic and anger in his older sister's voice as she threatened the Prime Minister that told him that this was real, and left him scrambling to remember all of Martha's instructions. Because Martha didn't panic. Martha _never_ panicked. So if Martha was scared enough to not hide it from her little brother, then something was seriously wrong.

So he grabs Shonara and Keisha and hauls them back to Boxer's, even though he knows that they can't stay there long because Saxon will have heard that's where they're going. He gives Shonara some cash and tells her to take Keisha to her family in Hastings. Suddenly he's glad that they're not married—there's no legal record to tie her to the Jones family. And Martha didn't mention anything about Annalise, so maybe Shonara and Keisha will be safe if they just aren't with him.

Leo heads in the opposite direction, hoping to put a bit of distance between him and the men Saxon has probably sent after him. He manages to avoid them on the trains for the rest of the day and night, but he hears the news of the rest of the Jones family being taken in for "questioning", and that there's a most wanted post out for Martha, the Doctor, and some bloke called Captain Jack. Though he doesn't know it, he spends his night in the same state as his sister, wondering how the hell his crazy but normal family ended up as terrorists wanted by the government. He makes plans on where to go, and how to best avoid capture himself…but the next morning all of his planning is shot to hell. He sees the news telecast, and the President assassinated, and catches just the briefest glimpse of the Doctor before the screen goes dark. Leo knows that they're up there somewhere, Martha and the Doctor, trying to make this whole thing right. But things only go from bad to worse, as metal spheres fall out of the sky and the whole world decends into madness.

For awhile things pass in a blur—it's no longer about hiding, but staying alive as people are pressed into labor camps to work on rockets for their "Lord and Master." He can't help but wonder if Shonara and Keisha are even alive (how can a toddler possibly be kept safe in _this_?) and he doesn't even want to think about his family. If Saxon was crazy enough to go in with aliens to take over the planet, who knows what he might have done with his family?

It's about three months in when the rumors first reach his ears. He's been doing better than most in the labor camps, since he's a young, strong male, but it's still been hard for everyone. Then one night, he starts to hear the whispers. There's talk of a woman, of one woman in all the world who can kill the Master dead. Martha Jones, they're saying. Martha Jones is going to save the world.

One of the guys laughs and pokes Leo in the ribs. 'Anyone you're related to, Jones?' he asks, and Leo laughs it off. Course not, don't know her, never heard of her, might've had a distant great-aunt named Martha, but that was about it…even then he's ashamed, though he knows that Martha wouldn't want him to draw attention to himself on account of her. It wouldn't do to get himself in trouble now.

Even when he tries to tell himself that it can't be _his_ Martha—after all, Jones is such a common last name, and Martha isn't that unusual either—he knows in his heart that it's true. He remembers how Martha acted the night of the Lazarus fiasco, how she took charge and stood up to their mother and helped to save all of those people…going after that monster when she didn't have too…he knows that Martha has changed. That she's no longer the same quiet, focused medical student that she used to be. And he thinks that if anybody can save the world, his big sister can.

A little while after the rumors start, a rather absurd woman in her late forties with a strange little metal dog wanders into their camp. And she tells them a story, about a man called The Doctor, and Martha Jones, and how they can all help if they do this one, simple little thing when Launch Day comes. He goes after her, later, and tells her who he is—something that he hasn't done since the whole thing began. He tells her that he'll be there, on Launch Day, thinking of the Doctor and making sure everyone around him is too. And he tells her that if, by some chance, she runs into his sister again, to give her a hug for him.

He's not able to keep his promise in the end, though. Six months in, when the rumors have become everyday and he's gotten used to not jumping every time he hears the name 'Martha Jones', he's helping a guy named Dan steal a little extra food for his kid. Cause he knows that if it were Keisha, he'd do whatever he could to help her survive, so he's willing to go out on a limb for this guy who's been working beside him the last few months. Only the guards show up a little sooner than expected. Leo tries to slow them up a bit, giving Dan time to get away, only he's not so lucky. The guards beat him up a bit, taking out their frustration on him, before flipping him onto his back and sticking the barrel of a gun against his forehead. Leo closes his eyes, because he knows what's coming—traitors to the Master are not permitted to live, after all—and his last thought as he hears them cock the gun is of those stupid rumors. _Martha Jones_, they say. _Martha Jones is gonna save the world_.

_If anyone can do it, it's you sis_, he thinks, and then he knows no more.

* * *

Don't do drugs, beware of flying squirrels, and review. Okay? 


	5. Shops

Greetings, all! I know it's been awhile, but my plot bunnies laid into me with this one, so I had to write it up. Thanks to school, my desire to write seems to plummet, giving the plot bunnies free reign over my head.

So, this one is set during the Doctor and Martha's stint in 1969. It's my take on why Martha was so against having to get a job in a shop. Written because I like to think that Martha is deeper than what the series 3 writers chose to show us.

Disclaimer: They're not mine, I just play with them before UPSing them back to Cardiff.

Enjoy!

The Doctor and Martha stormed back into their flat, quietly fuming at each other. They'd just gotten done taping the message to Sally Sparrow, which Billy swore he'd keep in a safe place till it was time for him to do his part. But something had been off between the two all the way home, and it wasn't until they got back and the Doctor flopped onto the couch that it began to come out in the open.

"I just don't get what you have against working in a shop," he said. "I've known lots of fine people who've worked in shops. Shops are great. I met Rose in a shop."

Martha took a controlled breath as she began to lay out her clothes for the next day. "I know you don't understand, Doctor. And to be honest, I don't expect you to." Her tone was quiet, but tense, as though she were holding back on a torrent of emotion that was threatening to break loose. There was no good in them having an argument over this, she told herself. It was one of those things that was pointless to fight over, because the fact was that she had to work to support them until the TARDIS was returned to them, and if that meant working in a shop, then so be it.

"But I just don't _get_ it," he retorted, not quite hearing what she had said. "I mean, you stand there, take people's money, help them find things…it's hardly a mentally demanding job…"

"Do you think I don't _know _that!" Martha threw down the blouse she'd been unfolding to iron. The Doctor looked up at her, confused by her outburst, but he stayed silent, waiting for her to speak. She dropped her gaze to the blouse, and spoke in a low voice.

"I'm a medical student, Doctor. I've got my A levels, and a real future waiting for me back home. I have worked so hard, my entire life, to avoid ending up where I am right now. Stuck in a dead-end job that's never going to end." She picked at the blouse, avoiding the Doctor's gaze.

"It's not that I think I'm too good to work in a shop. It's that people look at me here, and as far as they're concerned…that's all I'm ever going to be good for. Some invisible person to be fussed at and talked down to just because I'm standing behind a counter." She looked up at him then, a sad smile playing on her lips.

"I know you don't understand, Doctor. Because you don't see the world the way anyone else does. You don't see the petty stuff. But even at home, there were people who thought I should settle for being a nurse, because that's what women are better suited for. Especially…someone like me. They might not have said it, but that's what they thought. And you might not see it, Doctor, but out there, it's 1969. And when people look at me, there's only one thing they see. And it's not Martha Jones, the medical student. They just see some girl behind the shop counter, doing exactly what she's meant to be doing." She picked up the iron and started attacking the shirt with it. "At least I knew in 1913 that it was just for those three little months. Didn't even end up being that long. But here…"

The Doctor stood and walked over to her, feeling more than just a little bit guilty about the situation he'd put her in. "Oh Martha Jones. My brilliant, wonderful Martha Jones." He smiled and pulled her into a hug. "You know it won't be like this much longer, right? Any day, now that Billy's here. It'll be any day now, and then we'll be right back on the open road, going wherever you please. Maybe we'll swing by Praeclarus Stilli. Gorgeous beaches. And when it rains, the rain water turns different colors! Pinks, purples, green, all sorts of stuff! It's brilliant."

She smiled up at him, the tension breaking. His enthusiasm was infectious. "That a promise?"

"Oh yes." He grinned, before stepping back from her. "And you know that I always keep my promises, Miss Jones."


End file.
